Wei Yan: A tale of Torment
by Zhou-Mak
Summary: Wei Yan is tormented, not physically, but mentally. Murder, Slaughter, Betrayal, Death. The words appear to him in various colors, sometimes black and rotting, other times, red and passionate. One Shot


Disclaimer: I do not; as of yet, control any significant property. Who am I kidding? I don't control any significance.

Wei Yan sits on a stone bench of excellent workmanship at the top of a small hill leading down to a dark blue pond. Most of his battle armor is off and he wears a light, baggy, long-sleeve shirt and pants of a similar make. The entire ensemble is a barely-tinted light green. The only way one could not mistake him for a common solider is the brightly colored mask he wears. It is a half mask. It's white and has large purple flames where the eyeholes are cut out, and a jade color put on like face paint. It also sports large gold-colored ears, which more closely resemble those of an elf or pixie than a human. This mask never comes off of this face.

One night, Zhao Yun and Jiang Wei crept into Wei Yan's tent to see if he slept in the mask. When they walked in, Wei Yan leapt out of a shadow near them. Zhao Yun and Jiang Wei ran out of the tent so fast you'd think that they were on fire.

Anyway, for a wonder, his weapon was nowhere to be found. Wei Yan used a Voluge. That is a spear-like weapon with a slashing, rather than a piercing blade, and it has this blade on each end of the shaft.

Wei Yan appears to be in deep thought; something half the camp would swear is impossible. Wei Yan has been tortured lately, not physically, but in his mind. Thoughts keep surfacing in his head, horrible thoughts—Murder, Slaughter, Betrayal, Death—they appear less as thoughts and more as words, either black and rotting, or red and passionate. Driving himself away from these ideas has taken more out of him than he thought.

He has decided to try to stay away from the terrors in his mind and instead focus on his memories. He remembers a time when he was young.

He is trying to find solace in the memories of the past. Instead he finds things nearly as terrifying as what he has conjured in the present.

"Hey Wei Yan, what are you doing?" asked Huang Zhong. Huang Zhong is a grizzled old veteran of more battles than could be counted. His stark-white beard went down over his neck and all around his jaw line. His dark green leisure clothes were worn loosely for comfort, Huang also didn't have his blade with him; just his quiver worn on his back, and a long, strong bow in his hand. Huang Zhong was a good friend to Wei Yan even before they went to join Shu. Zhong even persuaded Liu Bei not to execute him. And if Zhuge Liang is the person you are arguing against, then success is highly unlikely.

"Thinking." Replied Wei Yan, it came out as more a growl than a real reply. It disheartened Wei Yan that his voice was absolutely incapable of putting any form of emotion or tone in it, just the same low, deep growl.

"Do you want to be left alone?" asked a new voice. This was Pang Tong. Pang Tong was a mystery to many. He wore extremely loose dark green robes and a funny hat. It had a much wider brim that it was tall and it had tassels hanging from it. The top ended in a cone. Pang Tong was similar to Wei Yan in that much of his face was covered; expect not by a mask, Pang Tong preferred to use a scarf that hid the bottom of his head. Because of their shared traits, Wei Yan considered Pang Tong a close friend, even if he could never communicate the thought.

"Yes. Please," grunted Wei Yan in response. The only two friends Wei Yan had left him to sort out his thoughts.

"Huang, you sure he's alright," asked Pang Tong.

"If he's not, he wants to settle it alone," was the only reply Pang Tong got.

In his mind, Wei Yan speaks without any kind of impediment. The words he wants to say don't make his throat scream with pain. Anything he wants to express comes out in a fluid tone that anyone could understand. Wei Yan's hands hurt when bent to much so he cannot write well. After what happened to him, he kinda shut down with communication. Wei Yan reflects on what his past was like. In those memories he finds escape from the ideas that haunt him for now. However, it does not grant him peace. His past could never offer him peace.

Wei Yan sees himself now…what happens now is in his mind.

I'm younger and stronger, no more pain. I feel fine. The younger incarnation of Wei Yan reaches up to his face. He feels his lips, his nose perfectly shaped, his eyes all of his face is smooth skin. His throat feels fine.

"Yes! I feel excellent!" There is no pain there. His fingers feel fine, no hurting from bending the joints. Suddenly, he hears a scream behind him. Wei Yan tries to run away, knowing what will happen if he goes near.

Suddenly, Wei Yan is thrown out of the body he once had. Now he gets to see the horror as a third party. Young Wei Yan turns a corner and sees a house on fire. He runs inside just as the streets are starting to fill. Smoke chokes his breath, his eyes water. The flames lick his body. He starts to look for anyone that is alive, his body starts the transformation. He collapses from the pain and the smoke.

The citizens have put the fire out with some water from a nearby well. The villagers crawl into the burned shell of a house; they find no one, except a burnt man lying on the floor.

Wei Yan tries to get up. He hears more screams. People start shouting at him.

"Beast, Demon, Sadistic fiend, leave this place or find your eternal rest here!"

Wei Yan gets up, sees the people he knows and walks toward them. One of the men waits until he gets close and then punches Wei Yan right in the face. Wei Yan was not expecting the blow and it seemed to hurt more than usual. "Take that demon! Each of us has a thousand more for you and all of your kind."

Wei Yan didn't understand what was happening. He ran, he finally got deep into the jungle and found a lake. He stared into the shimmering water, He didn't notice the face staring back at him until he wanted a drink and was about to push his head deeper into the water. He looked like some sort of demon. His eyes were very dry and red, his skin was scorched and the place where he was hit was red and bleeding. Wei Yan tried to make a fist to hit the water and dispel the illusion before him and found the pain was far more than the hit to his face. He slowly opened his hand to relieve the pain, as soon as he opened the hand most of the way, a new hurt raced up his arm. Wei Yan reared back his head and started to scream. Suddenly, his throat also exploded in pain. Wei Yan only cried for his losses. He would live the next few years of his life in such extreme pain that only the most indomitable men could survive. He found his mask at the site of a lion attack. He thought, _Wei Yan shall never have a normal face, it shall always be this. _

Almost five years after the debacle that so scarred him, Wei Yan returned to his village. The house that was burned so badly was torn down and there was a tombstone that read: Wei Yan, a great sacrifice from a great man. Wei Yan fell to his knees and wept. A little girl came over and asked him, "Did you know him?"

"He…Is…Me," this was the first time Wei Yan had spoken in years, it escaped his mouth as a growl rather than a real voice. The young girl ran away crying. The father came over and asked who he thought he was. Wei Yan stood, turned and removed his mask. In a rare moment, his throat did not hurt to impede his final speech. "I am Wei Yan, the man you all made leave here five years ago. I have returned and now you replace my person with this tombstone? Look at me! I am no demon, I am a man! I am Wei Yan!"

The father shrank back in fear, quaking. An older man of the village ran over with a weapon and yelled, "Demon, I told you to leave! Now you die!" Wei Yan skillfully grabbed the weapon the man held, it was a voluge.

When Wei Yan experienced this moment in his life, he could not remember. His mind was a blank from his arrival to the exit with the weapon. Now he saw. Now he knows the other reason why he wears the mask.

The village was destroyed. The demon in the square had slain all of them in his rage. Blood covered the streets. Bodies lay in heaps. Three people survived. One of them was the little girl. Later she would say that a demon had killed them all.

Wei Yan fell to his knees and wept. Pang Tong and Huang Zhong ran to him. They tried to comfort him, but he pushed them away and ran off. A search party was formed to locate him.

All they ever found of the officer was his mask, covered in blood.


End file.
